The objectives of this essay are to:
Discuss reasons why girl child education is essential for economic development in Africa.
Discuss reasons why the girl child in Africa is underprivileged in terms of education
Discuss the impact of the low level of girl child education on economic development in African.
Outline some of the progress that is being made in the direction of improving girl child education, and suggest ways of dealing with the problem in order to achieve set goals.
Over the years, education has proven to be a major factor that is of utmost importance in the development of any nation. This can be seen to be true when we look at the levels of education in the countries that have attained significant levels of education, and the contribution that education makes towards their economic development, compared to those of developing countries. Education, in every sense, is one of the fundamental factors of development. No country can achieve sustainable economic development without substantial investment in human capital. Education enriches people's understanding of themselves and world. It improves the quality of their lives and leads to broad social benefits to individuals and society (Geeta, 1997). Education raises people's productivity and creativity and promotes entrepreneurship and technological advances. In addition it plays a very crucial role in securing economic and social progress and improving income distribution. Education can be seen as an investment in human capital, which ensures that people have a better understanding of issues concerning development, and are put in a better position to man the resources of their nation to bring about development. Education enables us to deal with other countries in ways most profitable to us. The world now thrives on technological advancement, and there is therefore the need for an understanding of technological issues and creativity in order for any nation to come abreast with development and to take advantage of innovations that are moving other nations forward.
[...] The achievement so far however falls far short of what is actually desired, and this is even truer in Africa, where girls account for a majority of the approximately 33 million primary school-aged children who are not enrolled in school (USAID, 2008). There is therefore the need for a greater effort and commitment in order to achieve this expected increase in female education. There is the need for a greater more concerted education of the general public about the benefits of girl child education, which should be carried out at all levels, to create a greater awareness among people. This should include persuading people to abandon old fashioned cultural beliefs and practices that prevent them from educating their girl children. [...]
[...] The education of such girls invariably has to come to an end at that stage. The seriousness of this situation can be seen in the report that Sub Saharan Africa has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the world 143 per 1000 girls aged 15 to 19 years (moedernacht). The issue of poverty is perhaps the most important issue when it comes to the education of girls, since almost all other factors may be related in one way or the other to it. [...]
[...] K. (1997), Education of women and socio-economic development in Baha'i Studies Review, vol http://www.eenet.org.uk/reg_networking/articles_docs/girl_child.shtml http://www.pbcaudiovisual.org.uk/audio/Revelation/RevelationPart03.mp3 McKeever, M. R., 2007-08-11 "Girls Education in Sub-Saharan Africa" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, TBA, New York, New York City Online . 2009-05-24 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p183287_index.html Ozturk, Ilhan (2001): The role of education in economic development: a theoretical perspective. Published in: Journal of Rural Development and Administration Winter XXXIII (2001): pp. 39-47. Asante, G. [...]
[...] However, with the realisation of the benefits of education, a great deal of effort is being made by governments and various development organisations to improve education in developing countries. Out of the little strides that are being made in education, boys are much favoured in many ways, with their female counterparts always at a disadvantage. Africa happens to be the continent on which girls are least educated. This is particularly true in South Saharan Africa, where fewer than half of all girls of school attendance age are enrolled in primary school (McKeever, 2007) Girls' education in Africa The current situation Traditionally, girls in Africa have always been at a disadvantage when it comes to getting education and being able to pursue education to higher levels. [...]
[...] Women however, seem to lag behind in education and this situation is found to be most serious in Africa where numerous factors including social norms and cultural beliefs and practices militate against the education of the girl child. With the realisation of the immense contribution that women have to make in the economic development of any nation, this situation is no longer acceptable and all efforts need to be made to overcome this problem. There is therefore, the need for all stake holders to have a renewed mind and work with all commitment to improve female education, to see to accelerated economic growth in Africa Reference: Geeta, G. [...]
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